Sky News reports that a small dolphin has been killed after a group of people took it out of the water and posed with it.

According to the report, two young dolphins were taken from the sea near a resort in Santa Teresita, Argentina and passed around so that beachgoers could take images with the aquatic mammal.

While being passed around, one of the La Plata dolphins appear to have overheated and died. Those responsible for its death simply left the animal in the sand to either rot away or be discarded by someone else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJCCdOPfEUs

As it stands, the La Plata dolphin, also referred to as the Franciscana dolphin, is considered ‘Vulnerable,’ with only 30,000 believed to be in existence.

The Franciscan, like other species, cannot remain for much time out of the water. It has thick fatty skin which provides warmth, so the hot weather will cause rapid dehydration and death. At least one of the animals [from the photos taken in Santa Teresita] died. The incident prompts us to inform the public about the urgent need to return these dolphins to the sea if one is found on the shore. It is vital to help rescue these animals, because every Franciscan counts.

Twitter users also fired back at those responsible for the death of the dolphin:

i vote we pass around the baby dolphin people amongst ourselves until they also die

How sad is this world, when a selfie is more important than the life of a baby Dolphin! Argentinians please “tag” anyone you know on this photo and get these cruel, sick, idiots to pay for what they have done. 😠

John Aldred is a portrait and animal photographer in Lancaster, England. you can see some of his work on his website, or find him on Facebook or Twitter.

Stefan Kohler is a conceptual photographer, specialized in mixing science, technology and photography. He is one of the founders of Kamerakind, based in Traunstein, Southern Germany. You can follow him on Facebook or on 500px.com

Liron Samuels is a wildlife and commercial photographer based in Israel.

When he isn't waking up at 4am to take photos of nature, he stays awake until 4am taking photos of the night skies or time lapses.